Trailering Your Horse: Tips For Safe Transportation

Send your horse with a friend, if at all feasible. Riding with other horses will help him to relax, and the dust from the caravan won't impair his respiratory system. The best trailers tease the spectator with a glimpse of terror, love, or expectation rather than reveal the whole film.

1.Maintain the health of your horse

A horse's respiratory system can suffer when he is closely confined in a caravan for extended lengths of time. This is so because he cannot readily lower his head to breathe or clear mucus building up in the lungs and throat. Horses in a caravan concentrate air pollutants from ammonia fumes, hay dust and agitated bedding during travel. One can help to reduce some of these problems by wetting hay before loading. Furthermore make sure the floor and walls of your caravan do not endanger a horse. For example, a horse's kick could punch straight through single layer of aluminium metal walls in your caravan, maybe damaging his leg or foot. In addition, make sure your horse has the right first aid tools in case something goes wrong en route. Furthermore keep in mind that regular breaks—at least every 100 miles—allow your horse to stretch his legs and sip some water.

2. Maintain a neat caravan

Spend some time looking over the state of your caravan as you get ready for a journey. To be sure the ramp, hitch, safety chains and lights are in good operating order, check them. Should they not be, fix them before you start your journey. To guarantee the safety of their horses, many horse owners utilise breakaway trailer halters during travel. These halters are made to break free should a horse become caught or fall, therefore preventing entanglement and injury to the animal. For a more pleasant voyage for their horses, some horse carriers decide to pack bedding—such as shavings—in their trailers. Bedding also helps avoid acidic urine damaging wood or aluminium flooring. Whether or not you decide to include bedding in your caravan, it's crucial to frequently clean the feed bins and water troughs for any mildew or germs that can endanger your horse's health on route. Furthermore, cleaning your food bins both before and after each journey will help to minimise the time food spends in air and moisture, so extending its shelf-life.

3. Maintain Your Horse's Comforts

During the voyage, horses are most vulnerable. Travelling in a caravan can lead to basic stress reactions affecting gastrointestinal and respiratory health even if they seem quiet. Regular pauses for exercise, water, and pasture access will make your horse feel more at ease all during the trip. To ensure your horse is acquainted with a range of setups, also spend some time honing loading and unloading techniques on several trailers. This will also assist reduce the potential of accidents resulting from a poorly-designed trailer allowing the ramp to be in an up position during travel, hence perhaps causing your horse to have their legs caught between the ramp and the trailer walls or divisions. Additionally a good idea is to make sure your horse is at ease with any extra protective gear they might require for the voyage, including cushioned halter fleeces, shipping boots or leg wraps. If you have a smaller trailer where it's simpler to get their feet caught between the ramp and the divider, this is very crucial.

4. Ensure Your Horse Is Safe

The physical changes brought on by trailer travel could expose your horse to infection. Make sure your caravan is absolutely clean. Before every trip, quickly empty manure and hose out urine. This lessens the accumulation of germs overwhelming a respiratory system already compromised by stress of transportation. Many trailering-related injuries happen during loading and unloading, hence spend some time in training to make your horse comfortable with the activity under many scenarios. Your horse will be ready to load and unload in an emergency if you practise at various times of day and weather conditions. Safety also depends on maintaining proper condition of your caravan. Before every use, check the hitch, brakes, floorboards and ramp for damage. Stop and investigate if you feel uneasy or detect any bumping sounds while driving; these could point to a caravan or horse issue. Additionally smart is to plan your path ahead of time and get acquainted with the highways you will be using.